1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an actuator arm assembly of a hard disk drive.
2. Description of Related Art
Hard disk drives contain magnetic heads that magnetize and sense the magnetic field of a rotating disk. The heads are typically mounted to an actuator arm assembly that rotates about a bearing assembly mounted to a base plate of the drive. At one end of the actuator arm assembly is a voice coil motor which moves each head across the surface of the disk.
Conventional actuator arm assemblies include a suspension beam that supports a magnetic head at one end and is attached to an actuator arm at the other one end. The actuator arm is mounted to an outer housing of the bearing assembly. When mass producing the actuator arm assembly of a disk drive, the actuator arm is initially attached to the bearing assembly and the head is mounted to the suspension beam. The suspension beam is then attached to the actuator arm. The suspension beam is typically attached to the actuator arm by screws, adhesives or a swagging process. Screws are relatively large and limit the overall height of the assembly, adhesives may "outgas" chemicals that adhere to the disk surface and destroy segments of the disk, swagging can result in unpredictable gram loading of the head and thus affect the performance of the drive. It would therefore be desirable to provide an actuator arm assembly that did not require conventional fasteners, adhesives or swagging techniques to couple the suspension arm to the bearing assembly of a hard disk drive.